IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I have Vista on a computer in one state and XP on a computer in another state.  I have a large email list with many group lists.  I can export/import the address book from XP in Vista.  But when I return I cannot export/import the list from Vista to XP.  It will not allow the group lists, which I need.

Over 2000 email addresses and about 25 group lists, frequently changing.  I am in my 70\’s and send out daily messages to retirees as a volunteer.  How can I get the group lists from Vista Windows Mail to XP’s Outlook Express.

With Vista, Microsoft introduced a new address book that isn’t compatible with the older Windows Address Book (WAB) used by XP and earlier versions of Windows. 

Like many things in Vista, the new Windows Contacts added complexity without adding any worthwhile new features.

Unfortunately, we can’t find a solution to transferring groups from Vista back to a Windows Address Book. The best we can suggest is using another email program such as Mozilla Thunderbird or a third party contact manager such as the free Open Contacts.

Given you have so many contacts to manage, it may be worthwhile talking to your ISP or web host to see if they include a list management service, some will do this for free while other will charge a nominal fee for it. Either way, you may find this simplifies your life and saves you a lot of time.

When we access the start menu, click on icon for Media player it comes up on the task bar but no window, it would appear to be hidden behind what ever screen is open at the time.

What’s happened is the media player has been accidentally dragged off the screen. The quick way to fix it is to right-click the task bar icon and  select Maximize.

If you want to fix the problem permanently and select Move, then use the arrow keys to move the program back onto the screen.

I am using Vista Home Premium SE and I have the message below popping up on start up, how can I fix it ? Andy

(Error!  Please run this program from the Administrator account so it can set up your license. Once the license is set up, you can run it from any account.)

This problem is due to Windows permissions. A program you installed wants to change a setting that Vista is blocking.

To fix this you’ll have to login as an Administrator or turn off User Access Control.

Once you’ve set the program up, log back in as a normal user or turn User Access Control back on as they are both important in protecting your Windows Vista system from virus and other malware.

User Access Control is a function of Windows Vista to prevent unwanted programs damaging critical parts of the system.

Some older and poorly written programs don’t like being restricted in this way and will either irritate you with continuous prompts or the program simply won’t work at all.

To turn off User Access Control, click the Vista Button and select Control Panel.

In the Control Panel, click User Accounts and Family Safety, click User Accounts and select Turn User Account Control on or off. Then tick the Use User Account Control (UAC) box.

Then click Okay and restart your computer. UAC is now disabled.

As User Access Control is an important part of Windows Vista’s protection against malware we strongly recommend keeping UAC enabled unless it is causing serious problems or you need to carry out a maintenance task.

If you have a program that requires you to leave UAC turned off, then you should contract the vendor for an updated Vista compatible version.

In some situations programs require Administrator rights to do certain things in Windows. If you encounter those, you may have to logon as an Administrator.

To do this, click the Start Button, select All Programs and Accessories. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

You may be asked to type the Adminstrator password at this point.

In the black box that appears type net user administrator /active:yes in the command prompt and press Enter.

Restart your computer and at the logon screen type Administrator as the user name and leave the password if no password has been set up.

We don’t recommend running as an Administrator for day to day use of a computer so you should only logon in this profile for doing system maintenance tasks and for installing new software.

I am attempting to home network by ethernet cable my two desktop PCs – one running Vista and the other, XP.

The Vista PC has an existing broadband internet connection and a new DLink modem/router, both operational. The driver for the modem is installed only on the Vista PC.

I clicked through various prompts on both PCs to set up a network, and each PC now displays the twin computers icon at the right hand side of the taskbar. But when I view the network, neither PC shows an icon of the other. They are invisible to one another.

I haven’t acquired any internal or external NICs because I thought that an ethernet port is a NIC – perhaps I’m wrong? I’ve read the relevant section in PCs For Dummies, but obviously I have overlooked something essential.

I hope you can advise me.

Kind regards, Elizabeth.

Hi Elizabeth.

You’re absolutely right about the Ethernet port being an NIC, or Network Interface Card, all new computers come with them so you don’t need to buy another.

There’s a number of differences in the way XP and Vista handle networks and this can cause problems. 

The most common one is Vista’s use of the Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) protocol which allows Vista computers to find each other on a network but isn’t part of Windows XP. 

If you want to get XP machines talking to Vista, the simplest way is to download and install the XP LLTD software from Microsoft.

Should this not work, Microsoft have futher troubleshooting tips, but you may need to call on the services of a computer tech to help you with what can be a complex and obscure problem.

I’ve read I should use a different browser to Internet Explorer because of its security problems. Which one should I use?

Internet Explorer is the web browser built into Windows. Because of the way Microsoft have set it up, it is particularly prone to security problems.

To make things worse Internet Explorer is a fundamental part of Windows so any problem with IE becomes a problem for your entire system.

So regardless of the current security scare it’s a good idea to use an alternative to Internet Explorer and there are plenty of options.

Mozilla Firefox

The most popular alternative browser is Mozilla Firefox. You can download a free a copy from the Mozilla website.

Opera

One of the longest established alternative browsers, Opera tends to be the cutting edge browser, while it’s not for everyone it’s fast, stable and is also a free download.

Google Chrome

A new alternative is Google’s web browser. It’s fast but it does do things a bit differently from the others. You can get this free from Google’s website.

Apple Safari

If you use a Mac then the Safari browser is included with your system. Windows users can download a free version from Apple.

All of these alternatives are perfectly good for general web browsing. It’s best to try each and use the one you find works best for you.

Unfortunately you can’t completely get rid of Internet Explorer. Not only is it a integral part of Windows, but some web sites won’t work properly on anything else, so reserve IE for those sites that require it and use an alternative for the rest of the web.

When I open my computer I get a message box stating “run time error “339′: component ‘MSCOMCT2.OCX’ or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid”

Can you please advise on how I can fix this problem.  The computewr is a Acer laptop and is running on Vista Home Premium with an update.

The problem is part of a program hasn’t been properly registered by Windows Vista. It’s a simple task to fix it.

Click the Start button and in the Vista Search Box type run. A list will appear and at the top you will see a program called Run. Click the Run program.

A Run box will appear, type in the box the following line.

regsvr32 /u c:\windows\system32\mscomct2.ocx 

Then select OK.

You will see a message box saying the unregistered succeeded and you’ll need to select OK.
Repeat clicking the Start button and opening the Run program.

This time type regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\mscomct2.ocx and select OK.

You will see a message box saying DllRegisterServer in C:\windows\system32\mscomct2.ocx succeeded select the OK button.

This should fix the problem, if you get a message that mscomt2.ocx is missing or not installed then you’ll have to reinstall it as we describe in another question.

Fixing this problem can be fiddly and difficult, so you might want to call a computer tech if you are encountering problems.

Hi, My pc has the following:

Norton Internet Security 2008
Spyware Doctor 6.0.0.386
ThreatFire 4.0.0.8
SpywareBlaster 4.1
MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware

My question is: is KIS 2009 compatible with ThreatFire 4.0.0.8 as I want to continue with ThreatFire as it is a very good program?

I intend to keep Spyware Doctor.

It sounds like you are very much on the ball when it comes to protecting your system against malware and certainly your choices of sofware make sense.

However I’m concerned your system’s going to struggle with both Kaspersky and Threatfire on your system. Generally it’s not a good idea to be running two scanners at the same time.

While I’m not familiar with Threatfire, it’s likely it will cause problems with Kasperski or any other anti virus simply because Threatfire will identify the anti virus program as acting suspiciously.

It’s good practice not to have more than one malware scanner running at once and I think it would be best to leave one or the other’s automatic protection off and manually run a scan every few days or weeks.

Malwarebytes and Spyware Blaster are good programs as well and it won’t hurt to reguarly run a manual scan using those programs as well.

If you are really concerned about malware then it may be better to be a Limited User for your day-to-day computing. This will stop most nasties getting on to your machine.